The Life of Mrs. Miles

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Olivia has created another giveaway for you - something you can give your children to do - or if you have kindergarten or children's groups who might benefit. She's colored one set, and left the other plain so kids can color them as they wish! You can see more of Olivia Dorazio's designs at the shoppe by clicking here. She has some lovely spring flower templates for sale - in case your out-of-door ones are not ready yet. She's meticulously broken each bloom into single petals, leaves, stems in every format you can imagine and are for sale for both personal and commercial use!

A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up,
whether or no the sun be shining outside,
Daffodils in a green bowl -
and let it snow if it will.

A. A. Milne (author of Whinnie the Pooh)

It has been a strange week, this week. More of the forgetfulness and confusion... can't seem to light on any one thing I want to be doing - so I've just given into not pushing myself to do much of anything, really. I did paint on a box that Miles and I picked up at a yard sale last summer, for $3. Hey, when you work on a $3 box you're not scared of messing up, you know? I followed some country fruit patterns from a hobby book on three sides and then freehanded the last one myself. While it turned out well and I'm actually going to keep and use it, its not something I would count as my best effort. It did give me some sense of satisfaction though.


The highlight of my week, besides, of course, spending time with my husband - was a visit with Becky. Recipe: 1 sunny day, 2 friends, weather warm enough to walk outside without being bundled to the teeth and spend 1 hour outdoors - baking in the sun and visiting = happiness.

Friendship is unnecessary,
like philosophy,
like art,
It has no survival value;
rather it is one of those things
that gives value to survival.

C.S. Lewis

Come to think of it, I DID do something different this week. I ran. RAN, for the first time since I can remember for a long time. See, my knees are 'creaky' and I'd intended to retire them to simply walking so as not to wear them out, but... If you are a runner, I don't have to explain myself, I am sure. There's nothing quite like that feeling one gets after a run. Its unique. Its refreshing. Its cleansing. Its empowering. And it provides an opportunity to get an intense workout in the shortest amount of time. It doesn't cost anything. It is something I can do with my honey, and have built a ton of memories together.

I did my first run by myself, to sort of test if I could... so it was part run, part walk. But I made it. Now, mind you the next day I felt like someone beat me with a stick in some long forgotten muscles. But I did it. Today, Miles came with me and it was SO NICE! Do YOU run?

Just before the ice melted, the eagles caught and fought over fish!

And then the ice receded to this point...

...and finally it's almost entirely gone,
except for the jaggley puzzle pieces of a bit left on the beach.

Here are some helpful and interesting things I've found to share with you for this week:

Internet Explorer 8 Beta ready for download. If you would like to know what's changed in it before you actually go and download it just click here. It can be downloaded here

Even more interesting and fun, I think, is a new type of search engine I heard about on an NPR technology podcast. It’s a new 3D type search engine called SpaceTime, and you can learn more about it and download it by clicking here.

Handy hint I read in a parents magazine – if you are teaching a baby to walk but have a weak back, or perhaps you are a grandparent and can’t bend over like that, simply put a soft knitted woollen scarf under baby’s arms and across the chest then hold the ends ...

I have to share tow of the the neatest hint I read on Shirley’s blog recently. I actually tried the pizza one and it works great. The second one I will try in the future, but have to wait for a pot luck lunch because my dearest has an aversion to devilled eggs – he insists the name of them is how he feels about them...

To reheat pizza with a crispy crust, heat the slices in a skillet on the stovetop at med-low temperature, and heat until warm.

Deviled eggs can be made easier by placing the cooked egg yolks in a zip lock baggie. Seal and mash until the yolks are broken up. Add the remainder of your ingredients to the yolk in the baggie, reseal, and continue mashing. Cut the tip of the baggie and squeeze the yolk mixture into the egg white. Throw the baggie away when done for easy clean up.

Thanks for sharing your hints Shirley – your blog is always a treat to read!

Have you admired the signature I had on my last blog entry (and somehow deleted on this one)? Well, you too can have one – FOR FREE... click here to go to the signature website. Allows you to save in jpg or png.

If you live in Canada and would like to win a Blackberry Curve from Rogers and a year of service (who wouldn’t?) or a subscription to Canadian Business and Profit magazines just click here.

My thought for all this week would be the following:

Blessed be he who has found his work;
let him ask no other blessedness.

"Commit your work to the Lord,
and your plans will be established."

Proverb 16:3