It's rare to see
The most lovely thing
Showing on his face
Like summer's light
Warm up your inside
You can almost sense
His gentle presence
Caressing my mind
Through the longest night
The most lovely thing
Comes from within
Like the whitest snow
On the slippery slope
Or the tasty fish
Caught on our line
The deepest wood
Failed to consume
The boat anchored there
Will one day sail
To the lovely place
Where we embrace
The most lovely thing
Is when we begin
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
What to do when it is raining and cold
What should you do when it is raining and cold outside? I recommend reading, listening and playing music, cooking, and crafting. Can you not find a suitable book on your bookshelf? Try the local library, and if you live in Hamilton, New Zealand, try http://www.hpl.govt.nz/ for online catalogue. I remember that the slogan goes something like this: you can sit in your living room and drink coffee in Paris, walk down the street in New York, go deep into the ocean, climb to the moutain top, ride a horse in the Wild Wild West, because you can dive deep into books with facinating stories when it's wet and cold. What's your favourite kind of book? Mystery, romance, history, Western, non-fiction, magazines, they can all be found in the library.
If you know how to play a music instrument, winter is the best time for you to stay inside and make some noise. If playing is not your forte, you can always turn on the radio or put on a CD and listen to music. Piano is not a hard instrument to play, and you can play the classics and the contemparory songs without sounding funny. Guitar is also a good choice, you can also sing along with family and friends. Playing in an orchestra is also a good activity, and no matter how hard it rains, it can't stop you from playing! Radio plays all sort of good music, and you can choose a station that plays the songs you fancy. It is also cheaper than buying records and CD. There's always iTune and downloads nowadays, but if you are fed up with broken iPod, just turn on your old radio. You may find something refreshing and the radio may still be working.
Cooking is enjoyable as long as you know what you are doing. The first thing is to go to the market and get your ingredients. Good ingredients will make cooking easier for you. Choose fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy products for cooking. Remember to check out what's on sale, lamb chops and salmon can be cheaper and affordable when they are on sale. The second important step is getting the right tools. Knives, chopping board, pots and pans are essential if you want to make a good meal. Recipes also helps if you want to try something new, however, if you find a good recipe that works for you, stick to them. Build a few signature dishes and you can branch out from those. It is always easier if you have some ideas about what to put on the table, and if you want to do something fancy, practice before inviting twenty friends to party at your house. Soup is great for cold winter nights, and one that's not so hard is beef soup. Chop four potatoes, one tomato, and one onion into small blocks. Chop gravy beef into similar size blocks, and boil it in water. Pour off the water, add chopped onion to the beef. Add potato and tomato and water enough to cover all ingredients. Stew until the meat is tender. Does it already smell good in your kitchen? Yes? Good on you.
Are you keen on cross stitch? Or are you more of a quilter? Cross stitch is a great activity in winter time when you can't go out walking or running. Kids can also do it, my friend's made a cute duck cross stitch when she was in high school. You can also do it with your friend. I remember making a small quilt bag in primary school. It was so beautiful. You can also knit a jersey to protect yourself from the cold, make hat and socks for your little niece and nephew, or make a scarf from your darling man. I also read about making doll house, sewing, scrapbooking, making beads, and putting jigsaw puzzle together (that's not really crafting). Where is your doll going to sleep tonight? She needs a house. Make small chairs and bathtubs and she can live in a dream world in no time. Do you like the blue lake, the green grass, beautiful fairies, cute cats and nice puppies? Yes, you can sew them and keep them on your wall, put them on your pockets or bags and show them off to your friends. Do you have photographs and don't want to stick them into photoalbums? Have you been travelling and never got around to putting the photos and tickets together? You can put them in your scrapbook. Use vibrant colours, borders, and put together a scrapbook that's full of memory. Colourful beads, starts and hearts, you can get them in emporium or from mail order catalogue. Mix and match the colours and try something different. You will be amazed by your own creation, and it is better than something that you buy from a shop! Jigsaw puzzles start off as something that's out of order, and when you complete the picture, it can utterly beautiful, stunning, moving, and it's worth spending time doing them. Put it together with your sister, brother and friends. It can be a challenge, and something fun to do when you can't go outside.
What to do when it is raining and cold? You can try different things and can't complain that you are bored in winter time anymore.
If you know how to play a music instrument, winter is the best time for you to stay inside and make some noise. If playing is not your forte, you can always turn on the radio or put on a CD and listen to music. Piano is not a hard instrument to play, and you can play the classics and the contemparory songs without sounding funny. Guitar is also a good choice, you can also sing along with family and friends. Playing in an orchestra is also a good activity, and no matter how hard it rains, it can't stop you from playing! Radio plays all sort of good music, and you can choose a station that plays the songs you fancy. It is also cheaper than buying records and CD. There's always iTune and downloads nowadays, but if you are fed up with broken iPod, just turn on your old radio. You may find something refreshing and the radio may still be working.
Cooking is enjoyable as long as you know what you are doing. The first thing is to go to the market and get your ingredients. Good ingredients will make cooking easier for you. Choose fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy products for cooking. Remember to check out what's on sale, lamb chops and salmon can be cheaper and affordable when they are on sale. The second important step is getting the right tools. Knives, chopping board, pots and pans are essential if you want to make a good meal. Recipes also helps if you want to try something new, however, if you find a good recipe that works for you, stick to them. Build a few signature dishes and you can branch out from those. It is always easier if you have some ideas about what to put on the table, and if you want to do something fancy, practice before inviting twenty friends to party at your house. Soup is great for cold winter nights, and one that's not so hard is beef soup. Chop four potatoes, one tomato, and one onion into small blocks. Chop gravy beef into similar size blocks, and boil it in water. Pour off the water, add chopped onion to the beef. Add potato and tomato and water enough to cover all ingredients. Stew until the meat is tender. Does it already smell good in your kitchen? Yes? Good on you.
Are you keen on cross stitch? Or are you more of a quilter? Cross stitch is a great activity in winter time when you can't go out walking or running. Kids can also do it, my friend's made a cute duck cross stitch when she was in high school. You can also do it with your friend. I remember making a small quilt bag in primary school. It was so beautiful. You can also knit a jersey to protect yourself from the cold, make hat and socks for your little niece and nephew, or make a scarf from your darling man. I also read about making doll house, sewing, scrapbooking, making beads, and putting jigsaw puzzle together (that's not really crafting). Where is your doll going to sleep tonight? She needs a house. Make small chairs and bathtubs and she can live in a dream world in no time. Do you like the blue lake, the green grass, beautiful fairies, cute cats and nice puppies? Yes, you can sew them and keep them on your wall, put them on your pockets or bags and show them off to your friends. Do you have photographs and don't want to stick them into photoalbums? Have you been travelling and never got around to putting the photos and tickets together? You can put them in your scrapbook. Use vibrant colours, borders, and put together a scrapbook that's full of memory. Colourful beads, starts and hearts, you can get them in emporium or from mail order catalogue. Mix and match the colours and try something different. You will be amazed by your own creation, and it is better than something that you buy from a shop! Jigsaw puzzles start off as something that's out of order, and when you complete the picture, it can utterly beautiful, stunning, moving, and it's worth spending time doing them. Put it together with your sister, brother and friends. It can be a challenge, and something fun to do when you can't go outside.
What to do when it is raining and cold? You can try different things and can't complain that you are bored in winter time anymore.
Sandcastle
I was reading a craft magazine last night, and one of the cross stitch reminded me of the fun of making sandcastles. What's the best way to make a good sand castle? The expert online http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/262547/sandcastle_building_101_professional.html?page=2 explains that adding sand to water to form a wet mixture is the best way, and true enough, that's what I had always done when I was a kid. Wet sand is easier to manipulate, you can form the mixture into shapes and forms easily, and after I had made the sandcastle, I put a layer of dry sand to solidify the sandcastle.
I always had the urge to build a castle with river around it, and this wasn't easy. If you have too much water, your castle crumbles and gets washed away. After several attempts, I found that a shallow river around the castle works best.
What other shapes can you build on the beach? I saw a TV programme once, you can build a dolphin large enough to be your dinner table, and form low benches beside the dolphin and have a nice beach picnic. You can use the material on the beach to decorate your sandcastle as well. Small stones, seashells, grass, and seaweed all give the sandcastle an authentic look.
There are more possibilities when you can get some of your friends involved in the sandcastle making processes. You can build a bat mobile, dinosaurs, or even a peguin if you want. Let your imagination run wild, you can spend hours building the sandcastle and when the project is finished, what an accomplishment! It can be big, it can be small, it can be scary, it can be cute.
Next time when you go to the beach, you can sunbath, swim, and don't forget to bring bucket, spades, and start building a sandcastle. There are sandcastle building competitions around the world. When the sun is out, the beach is beckoning, remember to have a lot of fun getting dirty in the sand dunes.
I always had the urge to build a castle with river around it, and this wasn't easy. If you have too much water, your castle crumbles and gets washed away. After several attempts, I found that a shallow river around the castle works best.
What other shapes can you build on the beach? I saw a TV programme once, you can build a dolphin large enough to be your dinner table, and form low benches beside the dolphin and have a nice beach picnic. You can use the material on the beach to decorate your sandcastle as well. Small stones, seashells, grass, and seaweed all give the sandcastle an authentic look.
There are more possibilities when you can get some of your friends involved in the sandcastle making processes. You can build a bat mobile, dinosaurs, or even a peguin if you want. Let your imagination run wild, you can spend hours building the sandcastle and when the project is finished, what an accomplishment! It can be big, it can be small, it can be scary, it can be cute.
Next time when you go to the beach, you can sunbath, swim, and don't forget to bring bucket, spades, and start building a sandcastle. There are sandcastle building competitions around the world. When the sun is out, the beach is beckoning, remember to have a lot of fun getting dirty in the sand dunes.
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