Marching In

 It's March!  I'm excited!  Are you?  And it's Friday.  And time for Friday Fave Fives.  Here are the five blessings I am choosing to share from my week.

1.  One evening when I was climbing into bed, I thought, "I am thankful for a warm bed."  Snuggling under my cozy blankets is something I don't take for granted.

2.  The weather has been very very rainy this week.  Finally, yesterday, it was mild and dry enough to take a walk around our neighborhood.  A bit more than two miles.

3.  We spent Sunday afternoon with a young mom at her place.  We've known her for a couple of years and adore her fourteen month old daughter.  Spending that time with them was a delight for us.

4.  This afternoon, my daughter-in-law and PAL drove down to the next county with me to a used book store that supports a local nonprofit.  We might have found a few books we want to read...  and then we stopped by a 'country store' where there is lots of yarn and fabric as well as used goods.  I only purchased two balls of yarn and a pair of needles.

5.  And it is almost Spring!  To prove it, the plants in my garden popped out some indications that Winter is winding down.

The crocus is blooming!

Daffodils are getting ready.

The forsythia hasn't begun to bloom, but it is setting out many buds.

Even the bees were busy outside of their hives.

That wraps up my first week of March.  I hope you had a great week, too.

Barns Are Back

A working barn

A barn  that used to be a working barn

A barn in a peaceful setting

End of February Faves

 I am late to the Friday Fave Fives party this week.  I have been having difficulties posting.  After writing up my whole FFF post, it has disappeared.  No idea why.  But anyway, I am back, endeavoring to try again.

I am truly thankful for Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for hosting Friday Fave Fives every week and encouraging us to remember to be thankful for all the good things that have happened to us.  So, here are mine.

1.  Another reason I am late posting is that yesterday, Friday, I had an outpatient medical procedure (planned).  Results are good, as far as I know.  The Professor provided transportation and took excellent care of me.

2.  Last Saturday, I attended TWO knit group activities.  One was in the morning and is the group I host with my daughter Nurse Girl.  In the afternoon, I spent a few hours with another group that meets occasionally at a friend's home in a town south of me.  A good time was had by all at both meet ups.  I mean, what could be better than knitting and snacking all day?

3.  A fun three mile walk with my daughter and the granddogs.  We walked, talked and sipped on hot teas while wrestling the dogs who are called The Mongrels by her.  The weather was perfect.

4.  Another wonderful hike with our daughter-in-law this afternoon.  We hiked a trail we usually don't take.  It was a new one for them, and I have only done it once.  The path follows the river along the canal that once helped link Lake Erie to the Ohio River.

5.  My new laptop is becoming more familiar now to me and I am able to transfer photos from my camera to the computer.  Here's proof:

Come back for more!!

I hope your week has been wonderful and full of blessings!

Friday Fave Fives, February Take Three

Friday Fave Fives is here already.  It is Friday, but we have been so busy, I'm not sure what day it is... I really needed this time to stop the craziness and focus on remembering all the blessings of this past week.  I am truly thankful for Susanne's faithfulness in hosting Friday Fave Fives.  You can join, too, by clicking on that link.

1.  As of last night, I have a NEW working laptop computer!  Thanks to The Professor!  We are still working on getting everything moved from the old one and downloading all the sites that need passwords.  Come back soon for a photo dump!

2.  The snow has melted (temporarily).  Most of this week, the outside temperatures have been mild.  Although we have experienced heavy fogs, lots of rain, and thunder and lightning storms, it has been a wonderful respite from the frigid cold.  The winter birds have visited my feeder. Even my bees have been out of their hives frolicking in the warm weather.  I know that we are in for more freezing temperatures and snow, but I am thankful for the few days when we have been able to leave the house without hats, gloves, boots and parkas.

A funny anecdote about the snow... earlier this week, The Professor walked into the house carrying a newspaper wrapped in a plastic bag and tied with a rubber band.  That was not unusual because that's how our local printed paper is usually delivered.  But.  The date on the paper was January 23rd!  Evidently, the paper arrived just as the snow storm started scattering all the snow down on the edge of our driveway and it got covered in the drifts and piles of snow blown and shoveled off our driveway.  It lay there for three weeks hidden in the snow drift.  But it stayed dry and was still totally intact and readable.

3.  We have been able to get outside and walk several times this week.  One afternoon at the local arboretum (3 miles), twice in our neighborhood (usually 2 miles), and once on the local county path that runs alongside the river.  I know that walking is important (vital?) to our health, so we just keep walking.  I am thankful that we can and that we have beautiful and safe places to walk.

4.  Lent began on Wednesday.  My "Art Girls" friends and I are reading the book Journey to the Cross by Paul David Tripp during this Lent season.  The book has forty days of devotionals.  Already, on Day 3, we are being deeply challenged with the topics.  I highly recommend this book.

5.  Last weekend was my daughter-in-law's birthday!  We celebrated with a dinner at their house.  Her mother had flown in to visit so we enjoyed spending time with her, too.

This photo was taken at least ten years ago, but they still look just like this.

I hope you have had a warm, cozy, joyful week with many things to be thankful for.

Friday Fave Fives in Second Week of February

 Friday afternoon.  The weather has warmed up a bit and snow is melting.   Another busy week.  Now it is time to stop, take a deep breath, and focus on all the wonderful things that have happened this week.  Friday Fave Fives is the best way for me to remember all the blessings from the past several days.  Susanne hosts FFF every Friday and I am so thankful for this weekly reminder of all the blessings in my life during the week.

1.  You will notice that again today I am not posting photos.  Sadly.  But.  A new computer has been purchased and we (meaning The Professor) are in the process of getting it up and running.  Then, I will be able to post ALL. THE. PICTURES.  I can't wait!

2.  I have spent many many hours the past few days scrolling back and reading all my oldest blog posts from the time I started this blog in October 2005.  Yes, I've been blogging that long.  It was a wonderful walk down memory lane.

3.  Last Saturday The Professor and I and Nurse Girl and Warrior Boy went snow tubing with our Trail Life troop.  First time for the three adults.  Oh, it was great fun!  I'm up for doing it again.

 4.  Our house cleaner came this week, the first time since before Christmas.   I greatly appreciate all the work she does to clean our bathrooms and vacuum and mop our floors.  The house looks so much nicer.  And that makes me happy and relaxed.

5.  Two long walks this week.  One afternoon we tromped through the snow drifts with PAL and her mom for three and a half miles.  The sun was shining and it was a fun walk.  Then this afternoon, Nurse Girl and I took the dogs for a walk along the river for three miles.  Most of the path was clear as it has been a bit warmer the past two days and the snow is finally melting off.  I love my walks.

There were other blessings during the week like coffee time with our friends, a couple of long phone calls with a friend and my sister in law.  Afternoons sitting and sipping my tea and reading a book.  I hope you have had a calm and restful week, too.

An Important Day

 It's Friday and the end of the first week of February.  It is also Friday Fave Fives day. (the link takes you to Susanne's blog where you can join us) But that's not what makes this day the most important.  

So why is it an important day? 

1.  It's Tall Boy's Birthday!  He's eighteen!  How did he grow up so fast??  He went from this

to this,

to this,

(a year ago, and so he is even taller)

As he answered me this morning when I texted him "Happy Birthday", "we are the same age now"... yes, he's an adult!

2.  It has been very very cold all week.  And then more snow arrived this morning.  I am so very thankful for a warm house and all the warm blankets.

3.  Earlier this week, two young men from a local chimney company came to inspect our fireplace.  The result was the best we could have asked for.  By the end of this month, we should have a safe and functioning wood burning fireplace, again!

4.  I am a bit later than usual today posting my FFFs because I was busy doing something else.  That something involved hot tea and homemade scones.  My daughter in law invited me to spend an hour or so with her.  We discussed all kinds of things.  One topic was the Well Read Mom group we are in is going to be reading Dante's Purgatory in February.  I have never read it, but of course, The Professor has and owns an interesting translation of it.  We spent some time comparing our versions.  I am loving having my daughter in law living just two miles away from me.

5.  The issue with my computer not playing nicely with my camera will be solved soon.  The solution is that I will be getting a new computer as my current one is old and quite outdated.  The Professor has been researching all the options and has come up with the best choices and prices.  I am happily anticipating having a new computer.  And being able to post new photos.   And.  I am thankful that the other person who lives in this house is so knowledgeable and experienced with computers.  (If you are a new reader of my blog, you may not know that The Professor taught computer science/literacy at a California State University for the last ten years before he retired.   And before that, he worked many years for Intel Corporation.  So, yes, he knows his computers.)

I hope your week has been filled with many blessings, too!

Home! The End of January

 Can you believe it is the last weekend of January and the first weekend of February?  This month has flown by!  And it is Friday Fave Fives again, the Fifth Fave Fives this month.  Here are my faves for this week in backwards form.

1.  The Professor and I are home.  We arrived safely from Gulf Shores yesterday afternoon.  The drive on Wednesday was long.  Yesterday's drive through the Smoky Mountains was shorter and absolutely beautiful. I am thankful for our wonderful trip and also thankful that we are home.

2.  On the last night we were at the Gulf of Mexico, we walked three and a half miles on the beach just at sunset.  It was gorgeous.  (You may be wondering why there are no photos attached... my computer is not talking to my camera again.  Hopefully, I can figure this out and post pictures later.)

3.  The Professor loves museums.  We spent almost a whole day touring the USS Alabama Battleship Museum in Mobile.  I enjoyed it, too, but I loved watching how engrossed he was in all the exhibits.

4.  One day, we drove west along a sand spit to Fort Morgan.  It was a very windy day and we braved the winds, gusts and rain and walked all around the ruins of this fort on the western edge of the peninsula protecting Mobile Bay.  Yes, we are history nerds.

5.  Maybe the best evening we had at Gulf Shores was spent in Pensacola, Florida.  We met my cousin (actually my cousin's son) and his mom for dinner.  This is only the second time I have spent time with him, and we enjoyed our visit so much.  He's a wonderful young man.  When we had a bit of a car issue, he jumped right in (under) and fixed it.  I am so thankful that I have developed this contact with him.

Bonus:  while we were gone, our area got slammed with twelve inches of snow.  Before we returned, our grandson Warrior Boy came over and cleared our driveway and front porch.  

Now I am home and I am happy to be snuggled up in warm blankets.