You are My Sunshine!

Tell me, doesn't the picture of this little plastic bobbing flower make you smile?

While we were remodeling our kitchen, my husband accidentally broke my happy flower and I was very sad, but he replaced it the other day with one exactly like the one he'd broken!  I had to giggle at the stuff written on the outside of the box.  The company obviously has a great sense of humor.

Here is what it says:  "Two's Company, Inc. assumes no responsibility for excess effects of euphoria inspired Bee Happy (trademark).  Please employ common sense and general caution while using this product.  If smiling and/or chuckling become permanent, refrain from operating heavy machinery and consult the appropriate professionals.  For those natural disposition is less than sunny, remember to use this product in moderation at first, as family and friends may become concerned."

Other writing on the box is shown in the photo below.

Don't you just love creative, fun-loving people like this?

The rest of the story on this flower is, it is my third one.  A daughter sent the first one to me while my husband and I were serving a mission in England.  It died due to lack of sun!  That is believable by those who have lived or are living in England.  I left it there in the window of our apartment in hopes someone would at least get some joy out of looking at it.

One of the first things I did upon returning to the States was to buy another happy flower.  As you can tell, I'm sentimentally attached to them.  That is why I was so upset when the second one got broken.  So now my heart is mended and the happy bobbing is continuing to spread joy as long as the sun shines.  It does slow down on cloudy days and it makes me think about us and our moods when the weather is gloomy.  Perhaps this will be a reminder to keep our heads up through not-so-sunny moments, and the sunshine will return to energize our spirits to make things all better.

Wishing everyone as many cheerful days as possible!

Jesus Christ Provides Hope Through His Church in Modern Times

More people access this blog than the newer one I created, though I am not posting much on either one until recently.  I feel strongly to share this information with anyone who seeks answers to life's greatest questions:  Why am I here?  Where am I going?  Does life have a purpose?  How do I handle the fear in my heart for the way the world is going?

In your search for happiness, faith, and hope, the following links are a beginning to understanding where I have found mine--as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here is a link to help you discover what I found many years ago.  It has truly made my life worth living and given me the strength to carry on through life's many trials.  It has given me hope for eternity to come.

May God bless you in your search for His Truth and to know His plan for us, his children, here on earth.

There is good in the world. Do not despair.

Love Notes Bring Joy

Before I get into this post, you need to know my husband hates writing.  He stresses over sending cards or letters, so you will appreciate this special thing he does for me.  It certainly takes extra effort on his part.  He knows how to put a smile on my face and happiness in my heart by doing out-of-ordinary things for me.

My husband plays golf with his buddies about three times a week.  I'm thankful he can still do this at almost 78 years of age.  Whenever he leaves the house before I get up, he takes the time to write a little love note.  When I wander into the kitchen, there's a sweet message to start my day off in sunshine.

I've collected hundreds of these notes over the years and they never get old and there are no two exactly alike.  I don't know the percentage of men that do this for their wives.  It would be nice to think it is millions, but I doubt a large number of men (or women) keep writing love notes, except in cards, after the first year or two of marriage.

Recently, I had some surgical procedures done on my veins.  One vein that was a problem was one I sat on, so the notes this week included wishes for my bottom to heal quickly.  There's often a reference to something currently going on in these notes, so they aren't just "canned" messages.

I grateful to have a husband who does things instead of just says them.  Demonstrating something behind the, "I love you," shows how much a man really loves his woman.  It's nice he also says he loves me throughout every day.

The examples below are two notes I got this week.

Do you notice that the little guy he draws has only two hairs?  It is his joke about going bald.  The hairs are always at different angles.  The face and hairs display a laugh all by themselves.  What a great way to put joy into my life!  Thanks, dear husband.  Lucky me!

Askrigg, Yorkshire Dales, Sykes House B&B

And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.  The Spirit of truth is of God.  I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying:  He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth.  He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.  Doctrine and Covenants 93:26-28

We chose to stay in Askrigg, within the Yorkshire Dales because it was where the BBC had, for a period of years, filmed the ever popular, "All Creatures Great and Small."  The pub, the vet clinic, and home were located just around the corner from the very old bed and breakfast in which we stayed.  It was also within about a 10 minutes drive to Gunnerside where I hoped to find evidence of my ancestors.  Not to mention, the whole area is wreaking with history and there are places where other popular films have been shot .  The actual James Herriott World, tourist attraction, is about a half hour's drive, but still he wrote about his treks in this area.  It is considered his back yard and a favorite place to write about and in which he loved to trek.

Sykes House is the name of the bed and breakfast in which we stayed.  It has a little shop at the front where newspapers, various goods, and food are sold.  The owner told us it is 500 years old!

Original fireplace rock.

Looking out our upstairs room overlooking the cemetery.  Our car is the silver one.

The stairway looking down

The pub where we ate across from the one filmed in the James Herriot TV series

Resident flower and my token flower for this post, which I am sure everyone is thrilled to see.  How many flowers and plants do you think I posted in the blog?

Original staircase.  I'm sure the fire extinguisher wasn't there 500 years ago.

The window in the toilet (remember that is what it is called in the UK)

Original beams

Awwww . . .

Three Kinds of People in the World

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  Pure religion and undefiled before God and The Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.  1 James 1:22-24, 27


The following article was found in my files and it seems like a worth while thought to pass on, even though I do not remember who gave this to me or where I got it, the print at the top of the page identifies it as coming from nowpublic.com.




"There are three kinds of people in the world today," Disney once wrote.  "There are
'well poisoners,' who discourage you and stomp on your creativity and tell you what you can't do.  [These are the negatives who put other people down and try to discourage them from achieving their dreams.  They're people who should be avoided and whose advice should be ignored.]





 There are 'lawn mowers'
--people who are well-intentioned but self-absorbed; they tend to their own needs, mow their own lawns and never leave their yards to help another person.  [Lawn mowers may be good citizens who go to work each day, pay their bills and taxes, obey the laws, and maintain their property but seldom volunteer or get involved in their community.]

Finally, there are 'life enrichers'

--people who reach out to enrich the lives of others, to lift them up and inspire them.  [These are the people who really make life worth living.  They go out of their way to enhance the lives of others with encouraging words and deeds.  They motivate others to have hope.]  We need to be life enrichers, and we need to surround ourselves with life enrichers."

All of us have opportunities every day to be life-enrichers.  It's as simple as offering a word of encouragement; volunteering our time, talents and treasures to enrich our schools, churches, government or community; or writing a note of thanks to a teacher, a pastor, a public servant or volunteer.  God calls us to be life-enrichers.  "Well-poisoners" try to build themselves up by tearing others down but never achieve relief from their misery.  Many :lawnmowers" may achieve material success and even respect in this world, but people who serve others will be first in God's kingdom.  

We all need to take time mowing our lawns, but take some time from mowing to get out of your own yard and take a few simple steps to be a life-enricher.  Thank you child's teacher, let your children know you're proud of them, lend a neighbor a hand, volunteer at your church, be a mentor, help with a fund-raiser, put your talents to work for a charity, give blood, invite somebody to dinner, write a note of congratulations to a friend or relative who has achieved something special.  You'll be amazed at how your words of encouragement, or your helping hand can have a dramatic impact on enriching another's life--and your own!

Portmuck and Derry (Londenderry) in Ireland

For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday,  today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.  2 Nephi 27:23

We went exploring on this narrow road to find a National Trust site where there was the steepest cliffs in Northern Ireland--something like sheer cliffs about 600 feet high.  We found this small settlement, which apparently was common in historical times.  People lived close together for protection and to survive by sharing their crops and labor.  


It was raining and cold, so we never did take the hike out to the cliffs.  The trail didn't looked like it was marked well and it was getting dark.  

Beautiful little cottages in their simplicity.  Some were attached.

We went to Portmuck simply because it sounded like a good place to check out with that name and all.  It wasn't really mucky at all.  People were on the beach and swimming in the freezing water, while children splashed around and built sand castles.  They thought it was a regular balmy day, I suppose.  I did meet two women putting on their bathing suits in the "toilet" (sounds funny, but that is what it is called), and they squealed, "We must be crazy!"  Yeah, since I stood there in a coat and scarf wrapped up against the cold.

Portmuck, The Port of the Pigs, is a quaint harbour, originally home to a small local fishing fleet.  To the west of the harbour are limestone cliffs, which have often yielded prehistoric fossils.  Muck Island, just out from this harbour, is an important bird sanctuary for many nesting seabirds and Puffins (which I really, really wanted to see).  This is also the site of an ancient abbey and castle.

,

The material on this house is attractive, along with the horse head gate posts.  This place faces the bay almost at water level.

There was a trail to climb the cliff overlooking Portmuck, but we went around the other side to look for shells and rocks.

Elder Blain is checking out the fishing, with Muck Island across the way.  We will go back to Scotland via this North Channel.

Our favorite past time by the sea, checking out the findings

Getting my foot into the North Sea.  From this angle, my leg looks like a prosthesis.  No, I was NOT cheating.

 The next place to visit was close to the Republic of Ireland border.  This city is called Londonderry, though residents prefer Derry.  It is the only remaining completely intact walled cities in Ireland, and stand as one of the finest examples of a walled city in Europe.  It is the oldest continually inhabited place in Ireland (beginning in the 6th century).  The walls around the city were built in 1613-1619.  We walked the entire wall, which had a fabulous view over the city from all angles.

Walking the wall

One of the towers.  There were originally four drawbridges to allow people inside the walls (or keep them out).

Trees planted on the wall

A pretty building

I liked these windows

Of course I admired all the beautiful flowers hanging in the streets

Lovely churches--just can't get enough of them

This is the "Hands Across the Divide" sculpture of two men reaching out to each other, which symbolizes the spirit of reconciliation.  This was erected 20 years after Bloody Sunday in 1972, where British troops killed a group of people.  It is sometimes referred to as the Bogside massacre.

These planters made a pretty heart shape

Hezlett House and Garden in Ireland

And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.  Alma 26:30

Countryside on the way to see one of the oldest thatched cottage left standing in Northern Ireland

The Hezlett House was built in 1691.  Originally built as a rectory, it served as such until it was bought by the Hezlett family in 1776.  Isaac Hezlett, who bought the house, operated it as a small farm and it continued to be the Hezlett family home for the next 200 years.  During the 1798 Rebellion, two half-brothers were on opposing sides.  When Samuel refused to join the United Irishmen, his brother, Jack, threatened to hand him from the Spanish Chestnut tree in the garden.

The uniqueness of the cottage lies in its rare cruck frame, a design more common in England.  The crucks were joined together to form the skeleton of the house and the walls then filled in with whatever material was available locally.  

A cruck or crook frame is curved timber that generally is bent to lean inwards to form the ridge of the roof.  Read more in Wikipedia, if you would like more historical information.

We were not allowed to take pictures of the inside, but it was quite roomy with an upstairs area for sleeping, along with other bedrooms downstairs.

A welcoming corner of the cottage

Very old tree and the wall around the cottage

This is a fairly large place compared even to some of the homes we've been in whilst (UK language) visiting people when on our mission.

I like how there's a fancy curve over the one door.

Though this bike looks old, I don't think hand breaks were invented until the late 1800's or early 1900's.

Very lovely and welcoming.

More modern building are in the back of the cottage with this community garden.