Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success; for who so hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles. SAMUEL SMILES

 

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. TOM BODETT

Hope itself is like a star — not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity .CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on .HEODORE ROOSEVELT

Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.  ROBERT H. SCHULLER

Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. STEPHEN KING 

“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”

 

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

“It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”

“Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.”

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

“Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn't have the courage to say "yes" to life?”

― Paulo Coelho

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Gandhi

There is nothing permanent except change. ~Heraclitus
   Change is the end result of all true learning. ~Leo Buscaglia
    Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. ~Stephen Hawking
    Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. ~Carol Burnett
    Just when I think I’ve learned the way to live, life changes.   
To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often.    
   When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change  ourselves. ~Viktor E. Frankl
   The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. ~Nathaniel Branden

Classy is when you have a lot to say but you choose to remain silent in front of fools.

Easy chocolate trifle

Ingredients

• 100g/3½oz plain dark chocolate (around 70 percent cocoa solids), broken into squares
• 500g/1lb 2oz pot chilled ready-made custard
• 1 good-quality chocolate Swiss roll (around 225g/9oz), cut into roughly 1.5cm/⅝in slices
• 3 tbsp cherry brandy, brandy or kirsch (optional)
• 425g/15oz tin cherries in light syrup
• 300ml/10fl oz double cream

Method

1. Reserve one square of the chocolate for decoration and put the rest in a medium heatproof bowl and either melt in a microwave on HIGH for about 1–1½ minutes, or place over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Once almost melted, remove from the heat and stir until smooth.

2. Add the custard to the melted chocolate and stir well. Transfer to a saucepan and heat very gently, for just 20–30 seconds, stirring constantly until the custard is smooth and glossy. Don’t allow to get too warm.

3. Arrange the sliced Swiss roll around the base and sides of a medium trifle dish. Drizzle with the cherry brandy, brandy or kirsch if using.

4. Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup. (If the cherries contain stones, you may wish to stone the cherries at this point, especially if serving children – you can do this by poking with a skewer, halving the cherries and removing the stones, or using a cherry stoner. Otherwise, leave the stones in place and warn people before they begin to eat.)

5. Drizzle the sponge with 5–6 tbsp of the cherry syrup, until lightly soaked. Reserve 6 of the cherries for decoration and scatter the rest over the sponge. Pour the chocolate custard on top. Cover and chill for 2–3 hours, or overnight, until the custard is softly set.

6. Whip the cream in a bowl using an electric whisk, or by hand, until just thick enough to form soft peaks when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Spoon gently on top of the custard. Finely grate the reserved chocolate on top. Decorate with the remaining cherries and serve.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes

By Justine Pattison

Vintage Cocktail Dress

 

Thought-provoking quotes

    Friends come and go, but enemies remain and build up.

    When our phones fall, we panic. When our friends fall, we laugh.

    If you have crazy friends you have everything you’ll ever need.

    Never let your best friends get lonely. Keep disturbing them.

    You have a problem when your imaginary friend thinks he has a problem.

   There’s nothing better than a good friend, except for a good friend with chocolate.

    Friends come and go, like waves on the ocean, but the true friends stay like an octopus on your face.

    A best friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find, but you’re lucky if you have one.

    Laughing is one of the best exercises. It’s like running inside your mind. You can do it almost anywhere and it’s even better with a friend.

 I’d walk through fire for my best friend. Well, not fire because that’s dangerous, but a super humid room. Well not too humid, because you know, my hair.