Grateful - for "small" things?

Many years ago I was suffering through a period of deep depression. One day, I looked across the room and happened to notice my ironing board. I have my grandmother's ironing board. It is heavy and sturdy. They don't make them like that anymore. I thought, "I am grateful I have that ironing board." Woosh! A wonderful feeling of lightness and happiness breezed through me. It felt SO good. After quite some time of having sad thoughts, all of a sudden, I realized how therapeutic a grateful thought could be. After some contemplation, I decided to force myself to thing only grateful thoughts and see if it would help me. So... I forced myself, as I went about my daily routine, taking care of the children, milking goats, cooking, homeschooling, etc... to purposely think grateful thoughts ~ to look around me constantly for things to be grateful for. It worked. Within a few months, my depression was completely gone. And I was very grateful!

I happened to think of that yesterday evening when I caught sight of this gallon jar of water. It is the container I use to let water release chlorine before I use it for brewing water kefir. The reason I feel so grateful for it is that I love how it looks when it is all clean and full! It is so shiny and pretty (to me.) So, I took a picture. Then I decided to go around the house and take pictures of other small things that make me happy and that I am grateful for. So, here goes ~



Do you see the bit of chain and the rusty metal hook? I found both of those, at different times, on the road when I was out walking. I have a habit of picking up useful little bits of stuff that I find that way. These two, together, I use when I hang a thermometer into a pot of milk I am turning into cheese. They don't look like much, but there are very handy!



(Please pay no attention to the obvious signs of dirtiness revealed by the camera flash in these photos.) Here is my little egg slicer. I bought it from one of the grandchildren through a fund raiser at school. It is SO nice for slicing eggs for topping salads and if you cut the eggs twice, then they are ready for egg salad. And, it's cute!



Here is a set of square fluted biscuit/cookie cutters. My daughter gave these to me. They are some of my favorite things ~ so useful for cookies, biscuits and crackers, and since they were a gift, I associate them with her.



Two things together, here.... on the wall in my laundry room is this little washing board. I got it at a thrift store. I use it when I have a very small thing that needs to me scrubbed. Very useful and I'm glad I got it. It is hanging on my favorite wall in the house. This is where, since 1995, I have been measuring the heights of children. My youngest (who is now 28) is on there. Many grandchildren as well. It is a wonderful reminder of happy times and loved ones.



Here is my egg beater. I haven't had it very long. I got it at the thrift store. There is something wrong with it, but if you hold it right, it works beautifully and makes my morning egg scrambling fast, thorough and easy!



Here you can see the clean milk jars as well as 3 empty pickle jars that friends have given me recently. So useful!



Ok... on the fridge are two large magnets that my husband passed along to me a number of years ago. I don't know what they are from, but that is where I hang my metal strainers. It is very nice not having to fish them out of a drawer. They always tend to get smashed in a drawer.



This is a photo of my grandfather and his father. I love the picture and am grateful I have it. I am also grateful for this perfect frame that I bought at a huge discount at Kohl's. It looks like it is an antique. What a find!



My neti pot. I've probably had that for 20 years. Do you know what a neti pot is? It is used for nasal irrigation to help with allergies and the symptoms of colds, etc.



This picture is hanging in our bathroom. I purchased it at the local thrift store for $2.00. Not too exciting, I suppose, but for some reason, I really love it and how it looks in there.



Here are some of my dolls. The baby on the left is "Jeanie." I've had her since I was 5 years old. For a few years, my mother and father gave me a new doll every Christmas. The next little baby I rescued from our thrift store. She is so cute. Next in line is "Tiny Tears" that I got for Christmas in 1953. The last in line, well, she doesn't have a name yet. I made her from a kit I bought at Hobby Lobby. I have 3 more dolls in my cedar chest. My mother used to make doll clothes for me, too. She was so very good to me. At the end of this post I will tell you something else about her and dolls. I love dolls. I don't really "collect them," per se, but I do like to rescue them.



I am grateful for my aprons. I have 4 of them right now. The first denim one I made for myself. The next one is a wonderful quilted one that my daughter gave to me several years ago. The pink one was made for me by a dear friend. The denim one in back is very long. I put it together out of an old denim dress and an old denim skirt that I bought so that I could use the fabric. It covers my clothing completely when I need to milk the goat on a Sunday morning.



On our bedroom window is this little stained glass bird. It was given to me by a sweet friend who came to visit from Newfoundland several years ago. While she was here, I knitted her some "stuffed" mittens from homespun woolen yarn, and she bought me this little bird. She has passed away now, so it means even more to me.



This is a plaster cast of our son's hand when he was in 2nd grade. I love it~!



My old crock pots. They don't look like much. I bought them used. They are so wonderful to have!



See the board with the magnetic strips on it behind the knives? This makes my life easier and also protects the knives from damage they would incur rattling around in a drawer.



As I was walking around looking for things to photograph, I saw my sweet kitty. She is such a good friend.



I promised to tell you more about my mother and dolls. When I was 30 years old, I made a doll for my mother for Christmas. The doll's name is "Winona." She is a cloth doll - an American Indian lady. When my mother wrote a thank you to me, she told me that it was the first doll anyone had ever given her in her whole life! I had never thought about it. It made me so sad to think of her as a little girl growing up without even one doll. My life has been so richly blessed with so much and continues to be.

Of course, it is not things that truly make us happy. I could be happy living in a tipi with almost nothing if I was with my husband. He is my home.

This post is linked to Wardeh's wonderful Simple Lives Thursday #67!