So much to be thankful for!

This picture is the very first one taken where I am with both my grandsons and their daddies. Needless to say I am very proud of it. Dylan, on the left, wasn’t feeling well that day so he looks miserable and Sam was tired because it was near his bedtime; so neither of them were very happy, but I was because it marks a moment in history for me. I am a very lucky Oma indeed. Shown are two of my three sons. The eldest one was not present and doesn’t have any children but I felt he was worthy of a mention!

‘Deep streams usually run smoothly and quietly. They have the same rocks and obstacles to overcome as their noisy, shallow counterparts, but they are so full that they can rise above those difficulties so a casual observer would never know they were there.

Whether our lives are turbulent and noisy, or smooth and graceful doesn’t depend on how many or how few problems they contain. It depends on how full they are.’

From The Friendship Book – 2013

Family life does not always run smoothly. I have experience of that like everybody else, but it is how we handle these turbulent times that matters isn’t it.

I have much to be thankful for. I really do. At this time of year as we pass through Thanksgiving and look forward to Christmas, I am more aware of it than usual.

I wish you all, my blogging pals, a peaceful week as you prepare for your Christmas festivities.

With love from the cottage and Oma x

Merry Christmas One and All

We are truly lucky to have three wonderful sons and their partners and one adorable grandson, especially at Christmas time, which is so full of memories of Christmasses gone past.  Although our parents are no longer with us and we ourselves are growing older, there is still much joy to be had. You only have to look a little way for it. The pictures today are of a present we received from one of our sons. It was a Christmas hamper, filled with carefully chosen goodies designed to please us. I’d like to share with you what we found in it.

Most of  the foods were handmade and how they found the time to make them all, let alone pack them up, is beyond my comprehension since both have full time jobs! It made me feel very humble.

So to say I was grateful is an understatement because for the last ten days I have been suffering with a dreadful head-cold, one of the worst I’ve ever had with all the horrid symptoms imaginable. Hopefully it’s going away now!! slowly!!

We’ve eaten the delicious gammon and leek pie, which was  filled with goodness and smelling wonderful.

For tea there is mackerel pate, sausage rolls, cheeses, home-made fudge, biscuits and goodness knows what else.

The next picture shows a rolled up knitting magazine for me to enjoy later. There was also a tape measure and another little gadget, which will be handy for my knitting exercises.

Can you see two miniature whiskys?

There is toffee in the paper bag below. We’ll have to watch our teeth on that! One Christmas I had a very nasty experience when I ate some of those tiny silver balls and broke two back teeth.  Ouch! I shan’t be eating those again.

There are gold coins in the gold box, which reminds me that I wanted to tell you that some more buried treasure has shown up in a field very near where the Staffordshire Hoard was recently discovered.

The card brought a tear to my eye!

Thank you for letting me share some of the joy I am experiencing.

Count Your Blessings

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.