Monday Message

"A cardinal principle of the gospel is to prepare for the day of scarcity. Work, industry, frugality are part of the royal order of life." (Bishop Keith B. McMullin)

There are so many who are suffering right now, keep them in your prayers and help if you can.

And so winter begins...

Winter is cold, long, and dark. It will be harder for us all to keep our spirits up with all that is going on. Look for things to make us smile...

These little houses I had gathered as I saw them. The one on the left is a music box, it plays Edelweiss, one of my favorite songs, and the water wheel goes around. The one on the right is like for a desk, it holds tape which is in the water wheel and has a place for pens. The one in the center and the one on right have a thermometer that tells the temp and given the humidity level, either the woman or the man comes out. At the time I’m writing this we had lots of snow (shown above) and both have the ladies out. These make me smile. If you look behind them you can see the Psych DVD's. I love them, they make me laugh. Gus is named after Gus in those shows, so I pull those out when winter seems darkest. They were a gift from our daughter though one I had found at a yardsale. We have only the one Monk first season I found used and behind the music box house is Gilligan's Island, so look for cheerful things you have.

In the picture at the top, the bunny is two inches tall. I thought I would use this picture to say that sometimes our worries can get out of control when really they are smaller than we think. Take a step back and get a different perspective.

Another thing I did was a lot of work but I moved around things in the sewing area so the sewing machines would be in front of the window to give more light. Behind the machines I folded a rug so the cats would have a good view...

Missy was first up there, her tail wagging, she loves it… Now Gus thinks he is the boss of everything and never hesitates letting Missy know but in this one thing she let him know it was her perch and he had to share.

What things will you do to cheer up in the dark days of winter??

When I asked Gus and Missy, they said this was their first idea...

https://www.vogue.in/wellness/content/ways-to-cheer-up-a-stressed-out-friend-while-social-distancing - this has some ideas.

What if you buy some twinkies and send some money with directions for the parents of your grandkids to get a box of twinkies with the groceries and hide the box with clues to find it. You can be skyping with them during this. When they find it everyone gets twinkies, even you, Have them hand you one and as they do you act like you are taking one and there you go fun for everyone.

https://mashable.com/article/cheer-up-loved-ones-social-distancing/ - I like the book reading together, one of my daughters reads a book with me every once in a while. It is fun to do. We actually are reading a who-dunnit now.

www.freereadfeed.com is a site that posts free books daily. When I run across a book I know someone will like I forward it on. We have three books ready to read together that were free.

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/health/info-2020/boost-morale-during-coronavirus.html - I like the puzzle idea of your family or child's artwork.

Gus and Missy remind you to continue to stay safe and even after getting the vaccine, continue to do the safe things till we are given the all-clear signal.