She led the way across the hall to the room on the opposite side; a large, well-appointed, and spotlessly neat kitchen.
Ellen could not help exclaiming at its pleasantness.
 "Why, yes--I think it is. I have been in many a parlour that I do not like as well.....Margery, if you will put the kettle on and see to the fire, I'll make some of my cakes for tea."
Alice now rolled up her sleeves above the elbows, and tying a large white apron before her, set about gathering the different things she wanted for her work, to Ellen's great amusement.
A white moulding-board was placed upon a table as white; and round it soon grouped the pail of flour, the plate of nice yellow butter, the bowl of cream, the sieve, tray, and sundry etceteras. And then, first sifting some flour into the tray, Alice began to throw in the other things one after another, and toss the whole about with a carelessness that looked as if it would all go wrong, but with a confidence that seemed to say all was going right. Ellen gazed in comical wonderment.
  "Did you think cakes were made without hands?" said Alice, laughing at her look. "You saw me wash mine before I began."
"Oh, I'm not thinking of that," said Ellen; "I am not afraid of your hands."
  "Did you never see your mother do this?" said Alice, who was now turning and rolling the dough upon the board in a way that seemed to Ellen curious beyond expression.
"No, never," she said. "Mamma never kept house, and I never saw anybody do it."
  "Then your aunt does not let you into the mysteries of bread and butter making?"
"Butter making! Oh," said Ellen with a sigh, "I have enough of that."
     Alice now applied a smooth wooden roller to the cake, with such quickness and skill that the lump forthwith lay spread upon the board in a thin even layer, and she next cut it into little round cakes with the edge of a tumbler.
Half the board was covered with the nice little white things, which Ellen declared looked good enough to eat already, and she had quite forgotten all possible causes of vexation, past, present, or future, when suddenly a large grey cat jumped upon the table, and, coolly walking upon the moulding-board, planted his paw directly in the middle of one of his mistress's cakes.
  "Take him off--oh, Ellen!" cried Alice, "take him off. I can't touch him." But Ellen was a little afraid.
Alice then gently tried to shove puss off with her elbow; but he seemed to think that was very good fun, purred, whisked his great tail over Alice's bare arm, and rubbed his head against it, having evidently no notion that he was not just where he ought to be. Alice and Ellen were too much amused to try any violent method of relief, but Margery, happily coming in, seized puss in both hands and set him on the floor.
"Just look at the print of his paw in that cake," said Ellen.
   "He has set his mark on it, certainly. I think it is his now, by the right of possession, and if not the right of discovery."
"I think he discovered the cakes too," said Ellen, laughing.
  "Why, yes. He shall have that one baked for his supper."
"Does he like cakes?"
  "Indeed he does. He is very particular and delicate about his eating, is Captain Parry."
"Captain Parry!" said Ellen; "is that his name?"
  "Yes," said Alice, laughing; "I don't wonder you look astonished, Ellen. I have had that cat five years, and when he was first given me, my brother Jack, who was younger than he is now, and he had been reading Captain Parry's Voyages, gave him that name, and would have him called so. Oh, Jack!" said Alice, half laughing and half crying.
Ellen wondered why; but she went to wash her hands, and when her face was again turned to Ellen, it was unruffled as ever.
  "Margery, my cakes are ready," said she, "and Ellen and I are ready too."
 "Very well, Miss Alice; the kettle is just going to boil; you shall have tea in a trice. I'll do some eggs for you."
  "Something--anything," said Alice; "I feel one cannot live without eating. Come, Ellen, you and I will go and set the tea-table."
     Ellen was very happy arranging the cups and saucers and other things that Alice handed her from the cupboard; and when, a few minutes after, the tea and the cakes came in, and she and Alice were cosily seated, poor Ellen hardly knew herself in such a pleasant state of things.

                                                                          -From "The Wide, Wide World" by Elizabeth Wetherell

"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
                                                                       -Winston Churchill

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade... when life gives you flour, butter, eggs, and milk... I say... MAKE CAKE... and then give me some! :)

You can never really enjoy sitting in the sun, until you have walked in the rain. :)

A puzzle....

"Two legs sat upon three legs, with one leg in his lap. In runs four legs, snatches up one leg; up jumps two legs, catches up three legs, throws it at four legs, and makes it bring back one leg."

Try to figure it out.... :)

A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

Happy Birthday!

"The best was to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up."

                                               ~Mark Twain

 "[Humanity] has unquestionably one really effective weapon--laughter. Power, money, persuation, supplication, persecution--these can lift at a colossal humbug--push it a little--weaken it a little, century by century, but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assult of laughter nothing can stand."

                                               ~Mark Twain

Happy Birthday Mark Twain! We have loved reading your books for the last 146 (aprox.) years, and have had fun getting to know the characters that have graced your books for so many years. :) So happy 176th Birthday!!

(reblogged from: http://holdenhardman.tumblr.com/ )

“If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.”
                                                                        ~George MacDonald

(reblogged from: http://thisopensea.tumblr.com/ )

Happy thoughts...

How still the night was! My soul hung, as it were, suspended in stillness; for the whole sphere of heaven seemed to be about me, the stars above shining as clear below in the mirror of the all but motionless water. It was a pure type of the “rest that remaineth”-rest, the one immovable centre wherein lie all the stores of might, whence issue all forces, all influences of making and moulding. “And, indeed,” I said to myself, “after all the noise, uproar, and strife that there is on the earth, after all the tempests, earthquakes, and volcanic outbursts, there is yet more of peace than of tumult in the world. How many nights like this glide away in loveliness, when deep sleep hath fallen upon men, and they know neither how still their own repose, nor how beautiful the sleep of nature! Ah, what must the stillness of the kingdom be? When the heavenly day’s work is done, with what a gentle wing will the night come down! But I bethink me, the rest there, as here, will be the presence of God; and if we have Him with us, the battle-field itself will be-if not quiet, yet as full of peace as this night of stars.”

This is something that a friend of ours wrote; I was so inspired, that I thought that I would share it here for all for you. :)

Geoffrey Merrick Stemen

In God's Image

There's not a person that we as Christians shouldn't love.   Now, I'm not suggesting you should like a person, necessarily, but love them with a Christian love, a love that the world has mostly lost. It's a decision to Love. If anyone has a moment, I have... a few thoughts on this type of Christian love, this inherent valuing of all human life.   1. All people are people. This is one of those profound-simplistic things. Every single human being you have ever met has feelings, thoughts, and a soul; they have views and thoughts about you, in turn, and about their world. (In other words, you aren't the only person in the world with a brain.) Just because of this, they are infinitely valuable. I try to treat them accordingly.   2. Slightly selfishly, I also think you can learn things from becoming familiar with anyone, even if they are negative things, or "don't"s. Therefore, put your whole mind into conversing with people, then afterward, digest the conversation depending on the depth of the subject. You will learn--whether about the person, about the world, or about life in general. Thought of this kind is always worthwhile; it gives value to a person, which is, I believe, love of a sort.   3. Love repays. I think that every ounce of positive energy you send out will return to you. That in itself should motivate the most indifferent--every quarter you give to the offering, every blade of grass you mow, every joke you tell to comfort those wearing a raincloud hat, will come around, in greater quantity. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Period.   4. Love is appreciated. You never know who that random guy you smile to is, what his life's like. Maybe he's had a bad day. Maybe he just heard his sister died; maybe his wife is in the hospital; maybe he just got the pink slip. Smile so he knows you value him, just for existing. (Just don't be creepy about it.) One smile can turn one's mood for the whole day--I speak from experience. Just smile for the person, not at  them, and you'll be fine.   5. Love is a calling card. Christians are told to love their neighbor as themselves (which, sometimes, can honestly be quite a lot). Remember, you represent a whole group of the people who have been so astronomically lucky, that they are chosen from the billions of the world to spend eternity in a place more wonderful than anything in the universe. While this may not make you laugh out loud, it can at least make you feel safe and content if you just consider it for a moment longer than usual. Share this contentment! I don't mean to replay dull platitudes, but just be pleasant and courteous. Don't ever act angry in public. Don't insult anyone, ever! You don't know the meaning your words may have for someone. Try to mean everything you say. "How's it going?" sounds too offhand for me. I believe "How are you doing?" is a great greeting. And actually ask.   6. Perhaps most importantly, love is our owe to the ultimate Creator of the universe. He had no reason to love us. We essentially embody everything that He finds disgusting, but He noticed us! The dust specks on His shoe, so to speak. And He loved  us! He loved us so much that He gave us a chance to live for all of eternity! Keep it in mind when you're in an antisocial mood.   But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) God Himself considered us, and them, worth dying for.   Are our words and smiles too high a price?

By: Geoffrey Merrick Stemen

'Scattered wits take a long time picking up; and often before I had got them well together, they would be dispersed in all directions by one stray thought...'  ;)
                                                                 --Great Expectations

Random conversation.....

Jesse: Sarah, is that a agave plant?
Sarah: Um...I want to say yes.
Jesse: I want you to say yes.
Sarah: OK, then: yes.
Jesse: *fists in the air* Yes! ;)

• Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.
  Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
  Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
  Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for. – Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers (Film)

"Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning." – C.S. Lewis

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato