Tuesday ~ Taking the good with the bad ~ a relapse has happened...

My Husband woke up looking and sounding worse.

It pretty much was 'official'... after a month of flu,

then substantial needing lots of medicine respiratory illness,

my poor sweet Husband, who was feeling a lot better towards

the end of last week, has a cold... 

We were both very tired this morning and napped...

I made lunch and was so happy to make a new pot

of Chicken Bone Broth for my ailing husband...

it was humming away and smelling up the house so nicely,

but then later it changed and I did not think right away

what and why and by the time I did,

the water had boiled out and it was in the beginning stages of burn...

I immediately turned off the burner and poured water into my poor

pretty red pot and the water turned smokey black...

I was fortunate that it was not smoking when I opened the pot!

 ***

Later I called my Mother and told her about it

and she commented that once Oma (her Mom) 

almost burnt the house on Railroad Street down.

I must tell you the story so that it is not forgotten... 

My Oma, even back then, cleaned houses for others...

my Mom was probably in grade 8 and her old brother,

my Uncle H, was in grade 10.

My Oma was cooking soup bones on the stove

when she left to go clean house,

not realizing that the burner was set on 'High' instead of 

on 'Low', and when my Uncle H came back from school,

the smoke was so dense that he could not get to the phone 

that was in the hallway past the kitchen...

he had to go to the neighbours house to call the fire department.

The pot, a thick aluminum one was from Holland,

where my Mom and her family had immigrated from probably about 14 years

before this time, and the pot was burned though, the bottom of it

being totally gone.  The cupboards were scorched, the kitchen had 

to be repainted and my Mom's lunch, the next day,

when she opened it, smoke came right out of the bag,

right there at school, and she had to throw her lunch away,

it was so damaged!

Thank God that the house did not burn down.

My Oma must of been so distressed by this,

as I know her to be a very careful woman and she was probably

very distracted that morning, maybe running late or something

worrying her. She had 8 children and I am sure always had much

to think about and even more to do... 

Anyway, there's the story and my Mom comforted me,

that it could of been much worse.

***

I will have to be more careful when making broth and not put the 

temperature so that I can here it cooking but be careful to have a much lower

simmer.... lesson learned

and I am so THANKFUL that my beautiful red rooster pot is still OK...!

My Husband and I were talking about that pot as we drove our

now fixed car (battery went, taking the alternator with it), how

we find that pot so beautiful, my Husband esp. loves the rooster on it,

as do I... we got it at 65% off about 2 years ago and I am so glad that

I did not ruin it, as it would be costly to replace at full price!!! 

So thank God for that!

***

So my Husband had a online consult with a doctor this morning

who told him to monitor his temperature and breathing. 

By tonight he had an elevated temperature, just over 100F.

So he called our medical place again and now will see

the doctor tomorrow.

***

He's quite unwell, the main thing we are hoping and praying for 

is that this cold stays in his head and does not descend into his lungs.

***

So tonight, after I cleaned up while Mr Husband did prayers early,

and then we did what we call 'prayers for our marriage' and he had

tea ready for him and we did the oils for respiratory health...

and then I finally had time to read quietly the 

much loved Akathist to Saint Luke the Surgeon...

***

Tonight we talked again about how we must seek

to be thankful to God for all things and if we are,

then we can still have the joy that God brings,

our heart can still have lightness...

***

I forget sometimes and feel discouraged and dismayed,

but God is our Father, He loves us and will take care of us...

and we have so many many things to be thankful for!

Monday: all that is bright is brittle; yet the light of Christ is eternal and illumines all

I must remember this day,

how beautiful it was, with good soup,

my Grandma's date bread with butter, good hot tea, 

lamb dish leftovers, so good,

a Walton's episode,

some knitting done,

the simple joys and happiness that we had...

Already my husband was having a lot of sniffles and 

the like, but we were still hoping it was not really what it

seemed to maybe be: a head cold...

***

I had a lot of fun discussing on social media a recipe for

a lovely pie I still hope I can make for this Sunday's dessert,

for our shared house-blessing meal. 

The consensus is to do was I was thinking:

add cinnamon, vanilla possibly and consider cloves, possible nutmeg.

I look forward to more pondering of this

apple cranberry pie....

***

I am reminded of Pascha and how the light of Christ

is eternal...

I was given a quote which I found in fuller form tonight,

it encouraged me greatly.

Here is is -- but St. Macarius the Great: 

"Grace is constantly present, and is rooted in us, and worked into us like leaven, from our earliest years, until the thing thus present becomes fixed in a man like a natural endowment, as if it were one substance with him. But, for the man’s own good, it manages him in many different ways, after its own pleasure. Sometimes the fire flames out and kindles more vehemently; at other times more gently and mildly. The light that it gives kindles up at times and shines with unusual brightness; at others it abates and burns low. The lamp is always burning and shining, but when it is specially trimmed, it kindles up with intoxication of the love of God; and then again by God’s dispensation it gives in, and though the light is always there, it is comparatively dull."

from here

A Very Nice Sunday, with many sorts of blessings

We finally made it to our far-away church again!!!

Our car battery being beyond the grave dead,

a man gave us a ride to church and back again!

It was really good to be back!

I did not teach Sunday School because I am still 

working on gaining energy,

it takes me a long time to bounce back from 

illness now... I am hoping to get better and 

build my immune system and strength again, but

I know that it just takes longer...

and I am no longer 20 but 40 and age too can make

a difference.... 

It was great to be in church though with my other 

church family...

I did have a moment where I nearly cried towards the beginning,

seeing the church still decorated for Christmas and 

here I was finally back and I felt like I should be greeting everyone with

Christ is Born! (The answer being Glorify Him!) but not only did

we miss Christmas because we were ill, but Theophany too...

Also, it was Zacchaeus Sunday,

which is like the flag saying 'Lent is coming'... and so it is,

and so we pray to be ready...

***

I was given 3 belated Christmas/Birthday gifts...

so many thoughtful and beautiful things!

A Christmas ornament, natural honey, 3 really nice

teas, all ones I did not have, candles, a cookbook for

high teas (! hello I hope future high tea at home tea-party dreams!), knitting notions, 

a cute crocheted container for them, lip and hand lotions,

homemade caramel and toffee... 

I am so wishing I could have my dear friends,

including many tea-loving friends who are my blog or IG friends,

and many who are far from where I live now,

here for tea and treats! 

***

We are still enjoying my Grandma's date bread!

So good with butter and tea!

***

We enjoyed lamb leftovers for dinner and soup,

and we enjoyed pots of first the new apple cider tea 

and then the ginger lemon tea!

I am very thankful that Mr Husband enjoys having tea with me...

and that he is not a coffee drinker...

***

I poured over the new tea cookbook last night....

so many great ideas!!!

Meanwhile, I found a pie recipe that I thought of tweaking for 

the dessert I hope to make for the shared house blessing meal

this coming Sunday, God willing.

I am so grateful for the many cookbooks I have, 

much of them given to me as gifts or because of purging or

at library book sales! :) 

I just love baking and cooking!

I guess you would say it was my first 'homemaking hobby' 

and one that is very close to my heart.

***

My Grandma has been a baker for many years,

of good food, what she would call 'not gourmet' but really

could be seen as such - it's more that she means

'not from a recipe that has a million steps or unusual items

that one would not normally have'... 

And in many ways, I am just like this,

though I like to do all sorts of baking, 

from simple, home-style but amazing, to gourmet or closer to it.

***

And so, Sunday, with going to liturgy, 

being given such thoughtful gifts,

having rides to and from church,

a nice Sunday dinner and clean up time,

 was a peaceful day, with a lot to be thankful for!

Saturday ~ blessings and beauty at the table

Time is a funny thing,

Saturday seems so long ago, and it's only early Monday afternoon

right now! 

Well, we made it to our local church...

Our car battery was found to be totally utterly dead

on Saturday afternoon...

We are still more tired than normal, so I was thankful

that Mr Husband agreed to going out to dinner

Saturday night to a middle eastern place,

we both got lamb dishes,

a really nice treat

and a very big meal! We will have left overs until Monday

night or Tuesday lunch! 

We've also been enjoying some Chicken Soup that we made

from the roast chicken leftovers that we froze from my 

belated 40th birthday party... 

I laminated some icons and such things on Saturday as well...

it was a full and good day.