It's Positively Hodgepodge!

 I'll take the tree off the porch
as soon as it stops looking like
Christmas out there!


Join Joyce and the Gang
for

 She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Plug them into your own blog post

and  join in!

1. January 24th is National Compliment Day. Is it easy or not so easy for you to accept a compliment? Share a recent compliment you've given or received.

I'll let you know. (but seriously yes, and easy to say thank you.)

But I don't hesitate to give compliments, or I guess I should say that I like commending people for things they've done well, happiness they've brought to others, or beauty they've created. It is good for people to be acknowledged and helps them become happier people. And why on earth not? If it's not sincere, then of course it's just flattery. But contrary to what some seem to think, commending someone or giving a compliment doesn't detract from you in any way, (an attitude that just boggles my mind.)

 Big snow storm yesterday.

2. Ten little things you are loving right now.

Tommy & Smokey (except that Tommy just crashed my Bridger shrine photo and broke the candelabra doing it.)

Fire in the stove

Thoughts of spring

Grandkids

Good coffee

Snow that won't stay more than three more months

A good snowplow and a man who loves to push snow around

Good books that arrive in the mail

A PayPal account that I hope will increase soon

Book of Common Prayer

A not-so-little thing, Mr. C. who keeps that miserable long driveway plowed after snow storms and who is a cheerful and fun companion.

 I'll pretend that Tommy didn't do this on purpose.

3. Would people describe you as a positive person? Do you see yourself that way? I read here  a list/description of eight things positive people do differently-

I don't know. I hope they would. I certainly see myself as a positive person. I positively hate winter, so even that should count, right? But I love May, (except for a few years ago when we got a May blizzard with 18 inches of snow) and I think of the beauty of May awaiting me.

Positive people find something to look forward to every day, they celebrate the small stuff, they're kind, they stay busy, accept responsibility for their actions, forgive themselves, know when to move on, and resist comparisons

Which action on the list would you say you do regularly? Which action could you add to your life to give you a more positive outlook? If you're a positive person, what's something you do regularly that's not on the list?

I would say that I've got most of that list covered, but there's room for improvement in the area of kindness. Of course I have to be out among people in order to be kind to them, and I mostly find myself being kind to Tommy & Smokey, who are the ones here at home with me, staying warm beside that ever-hungry stove. And yes, I am kind to Mr. C., but that occasionally takes more effort.

To add to the list, I'd say that spending time reading and praying (see Book of Common Prayer) and in general reading good books regularly is really important for staying positive.   Also, worrying less about decluttering the house (my daughter will cringe) and instead enjoying it during the long winter months helps me stay positive. There's so much fun stuff around me - Did I mention books? and dark chili chocolate? and replays of Endeavour and Lewis?

 I did get rid of the clutter, I want you to know.

And it's not my fault that Mr. C. brings home bits and bobs from job sites! 

BTW You can get a Church of England Daily Prayer app for your Kindle or smartphone. 
It's the best habit. I love it.

 4. Homemade chicken soup, beef stew, or a bowl of chili...what's your pleasure on a cold winter's day?

A bowl of chili - about 5:30 in the afternoon. Love it!

 Hospital pics from last week.

Daughter (left) knitted that darling hat! (Scottish Blackface sheep, my favorite)
Little patient and brother getting a ride in the wagon, thanks to Gpa.
Tommy & Smokey & Tuppence getting a drink 

Little Patient

upon being discharged from the hospital

Pure joy.

5. The best part of my day is....

That would be morning. I am definitely a morning person. And Anglophile that I am, starting the day with my version of a Full English Breakfast: (I did say my version).

 Black coffee and a protein bar

and my Kindle, of course

And morning Scripture and prayer with BCP (see above). Yes, I have the app. So handy.

Why did some churches stop kneeling for prayer??

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

 New book and fresh attempt at liking tea.

Book a huge success,

Tea an utter failure.

(the part of my Anglophileness that I regret)

But I love my 'Robins in a Starry Night' mug.


“Being a disciple of Jesus is not primarily a matter of getting the right ideas and doctrines and beliefs into your head in order to guarantee proper behavior; rather, it's a matter of being the kind of person who loves rightly--who loves God and neighbor and is oriented to the world by the primacy of that love. We are made to be such people by our immersion in the material practices of Christian worship--through affective impact, over time, of sights and smell in water and wine.” 

 “Liturgies aim our love to different ends precisely by training our hearts through our bodies.” - James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom

 Snuggling during the blizzard

***

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Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

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Hodgepodging a Sneaky Cat and a Sick Little Granddaughter

That basket is supposed to contain a towel only.
vintage clawfoot tub,
vintage windows
vintage McCoy pottery
vintage wallpaper  :-)
year old cat



Join Joyce and the Gang
for

She writes the questions;
we write the answers.
Plug them into your own blog post
and join in!

1. What keeps you blogging?

Right now, what keeps me blogging at all is Joyce's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce.

2. Some people like to travel in the winter months. Do you enjoy the beach in winter? According to Southern Living the best U.S. beach towns to visit this winter are-

St Simons Island (Georgia), Hilton Head (South Carolina), Bald Head Island (North Carolina), Seaside (Florida), Bay St. Louis (Mississippi), Cape San Blas (Florida), South Padre Island (Texas), Folly Beach (South Carolina), Chincoteague (Virginia), Duck Key (Florida), Nags Head (North Carolina), and Fairhope (Alabama)

Have you been to any of the towns listed (in any season)? Which on the list appeals to you most this winter?

Is this some kind of a cruel joke? We've got at least 3 more months (okay, maybe 2 1/2) of winter to endure, and there are no hopes of heading south, let alone to a beach. But if I could be teleported to any of those listed, it would be Chincoteague. I've read about the ponies on Chincoteague and would like to see them.

 Winter in a wee village in Wisconsin

3. What's a song you're embarrassed to know all the lyrics to? Are you really embarrassed or do just think you should be?

Love Potion No. 9. But then I'm not actually embarrassed. I probably should be embarrased to admit that I know all the lyrics to most of the Saturday morning cartoon TV shows from the late 50s, early 60s. Really. Still. And someday when if I'm in the nursing home in the Alzheimers Unit, I'll probably be singing them to the top of my lungs. Just a fair warning.

 Beautiful Wisconsin Barn on Hwy 29

4. When you were a kid what's something you thought would be fantastic as an adult, but now that you're an adult you realize it's not all that fantastic?

Being older.

 My favorite photo from my journals

(see below)

I told Mr. C. that I want to live in York Minster Cathedral. He says they'd probably put me in charge of scrubbing the tile floor. Would that be all bad? I mean if I get to go to Sunday morning worship and Evensong services? He says he'll buy me a one-way ticket. Should I be thrilled...or worried??

5. Share a quote you hope will inspire you in 2018.

“Worship works from the top down, you might say. In worship we don’t just come to show God our devotion and give him our praise; we are called to worship because in this encounter God (re)makes and molds us top-down. Worship is the arena in which God recalibrates our hearts, reforms our desires, and rehabituates our loves. Worship isn’t just something we do; it is where God does something to us. Worship is the heart of discipleship because it is the gymnasium in which God retrains our hearts.”  James K.A. Smith, You Are What You Love:  The Spiritual Power of Habit

and

 “Our essential embodiment will keep interrupting our Platonic desire to do away with the body, will keep insinuating itself into our dualistic discourses to remind us that the triune God of creation traffics in ashes and dust, blood and bodies, fish and bread. And he pronounces all of it “very good.”  - James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation

6. Insert your own random thought here.

 Photo from New Year's

The sweet little granddaugher standing next to Mr. Blue Eyes grandson was admitted to the hospital on Sunday night and has pneumonia. She is on an IV of antibiotic and steroids, is being given a nebulizer treatment every three hours around the clock (it was every two hours until Tuesday), and will be able to go home when her oxygen levels have been high enough for an entire day/night. So far that's not happened. Please pray for Lucy and for her exhausted mama. (She's the daughter who put her back out the beginning of last week.) I returned home on Saturday and Lucy was admitted to the hospital a day later. We will probably be heading over there on Thursday.

And full disclosure: my Christmas decorations are not down yet. Possibly tomorrow, likely not. Maybe February. When I got home from our daughter's on Saturday evening, I continued working on my England photo journal because all of the photos, ephemera, etc.were STILL strewn across the entire kitchen table and I had to get that done and the table cleaned off!  So 96 pages later, my two-volume photo journal is finished. So you see why I can't possibly do a Shutterfly photo book. It would cost me a fortune!

I'll admit that I got a little sick of the whole project before I was done.

***

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Buy any 5 or more, Get 1 FREE 

'Winter Forest'

Balsam and Siberian Fir

Natural Vegan Soap

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...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at
 
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and at


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Join me on Instagram: @cranberrymorning