ALASKA!

 Hello from Alaska! Yes, Willow and The Professor are on another adventure.  This Fave Fives (Go to www.susannesspace.blogspot.com to join us in listing our weekly blessings) is dedicated to "getting here" as we arrived very late last night, in the dark, so there are no photos yet. Come back for more later.  (Sorry for the messed up insert up there as I am writing on my tablet and still working out the kinks)

1. I am thankful I married a man who is adventurous and also a planner.  He did all the hard work and research and bookings to make this happen. 

2. I am thankful he is well enough to travel.  If you have been reading Willow's Cottage blog for more than a year, you will know that The Professor had a mild stroke last year in May, just two weeks before we were scheduled to do this same trip.  And look at him now! Off on the adventure we had to cancel fifteen months ago.

3.  I am thankful we didn't miss our flight from Seattle to Juneau.  It was close as we were late arriving there and then we had to be bussed in from our 'remote' deboarding location. After running through the airport to reach our gate, we found out our flight was delayed. Whew!

4.  I am thankful for my neighbors who pick up our newspaper in the mornings and toss it on our porch so our 'kids' can bring them inside to await our return home.

5.  I am thankful for our 'kids' who will care for our home and garden while we are away.  Our daughter-in-law graciously offered to drive us out to the airport yesterday.  We know our home and garden are in safe hands.

And in case you are wondering, yes, Eleanor is with us!

Trying the Hodgepodge

I decided to try writing the Hodgepodge.  I've not really done it much before.  But you gotta try something new sometimes :)    Thanks to Joyce for hosting...

 

1. What's something on your August calendar you're looking forward to? Or dreading if that's easier to answer. 

       

I'm leaving on a jet plane tomorrow!

2. August 5th is National Oyster Day...do you partake? How do you feel about pearls? 

I do like pearls.  My husband bought me a pair of pearl earrings in Sri Lanka when he visited there.

Oysters?  Big NO!  Due to allergies...

3. Tell us about a time when you felt like 'the world was your oyster'. 

During my college years, I traveled to represent the college where I attended.  I sang in a trio and also in the small ensemble (The Reflections).  I thought it was the best way to do two things I love-- singing and traveling.

4. Trip Advisor lists seven islands in the US that require no passport (for US citizens). If you're answering today from outside the US you'll still need to produce yours. An-y-way, have you been to any of the seven? Let's pretend you get an all expense paid trip to one this month...which one do you choose and why? 

Catalina Island California~Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts~Mackinac Island Michigan~Key West Florida~South Padre Island Texas~or Kauai Hawaii

I would choose Kauai Hawaii because I have been to Hawaii six times and never been out of the Honolulu airport!  That's what happens when you fly to and from East Asia via Los Angeles...

My second choice would have been Catalina Island California.  I've been there.  But my focus would have been the before and after times when I could also visit family and friends in Southern California.

5. Sylvia Plath is credited with the following- 

"August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time."

Agree or disagree? In other words, how do you feel about this month? 

Truly, I'm not a fan of August where I live.  I'm just tired of the July heat and humidity that has cooked and boiled me all summer.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

As I sit here typing, I am being entertained by the hummingbirds that are flying in near my window to drink their nectar.  The hummingbirds are one of the joys of  summer.

Candy Canes in August?

 It may seem strange to be knitting red and white striped blankets in hot August.  Why candy cane Christmas colors??

Well, there's a reason.  Actually, there are two reasons.  First, my daughter had bought a bunch of red and white yarn to make a blanket for a friend's daughter who plays softball.  Her team colors are red, white and black.  But the shades of white (ivory?) and red (garnet) weren't quite right for it.  So she passed on the unwanted skeins to me.

My first thought was Christmas!  So, I decided to make some crib blankets for the local pregnancy center.  They give away booties and blankets to expectant moms.  Maybe someone is expecting a December baby and they will want a Christmas themed blanket.

So, onto the needles it went.  I'm almost finished now.  Five rows of red and four of white.  Merry Christmas!

The Very Last Day of July Faves

I'm a bit late posting my Friday Fave Fives because I've been busy celebrating my daughter's birthday (see Fave #5).  But I'm here now to share five blessings from this past week.  I've been doing this for several years and it is important to me to stop and reflect on how blessed I am.

So here are my Faves from this last week and very last day of July 2026.

1.  What's more fun than a fairy trail in the local county park?  PAL and her parents joined us for a ramble at the park and we decided to visit the fairy trail.

Which one is your favorite?

3.  Tall Boy is getting everything in order to begin his freshmen year of university.  It's the local campus of the state university, and it's walking distance from our homes.  One evening, The Professor and I walked over to the uni and strolled around the campus to get a better feel for it.  We have walked past the campus weekly for six years and haven't really wandered around it.   So we did.  One of the interesting bits about the campus is all the statues placed everywhere.

Yes, those are statues, not human fishermen.

4.  Younger Grandson passed his driver's test this week!  So proud of him and his diligence and careful driving.  He's been dreaming of this day for years!

5.  It's Nurse Daughter's birthday today!  Happy Birthday to our youngest!!  We celebrated doing what she loves best.  Walking her dogs and having coffee.  No photos from today.  But here are a couple of her as a two year old, playing outside in our remote Indonesian village.

Some things never change...

And a bonus photo.  Cuz you can't have too many barn pictures.

Fourth Friday Fave Fives

 The month of July is beginning to fade.  This is the fourth Friday.  Soon it will be August.  How do the days move so quickly?  Unless I purposely hit the pause button, life just keeps rolling along.  That is why I am thankful for Susanne's faithfulness in hosting Friday Fave Fives.  Even if I don't post something here at Willow's Cottage during the week, I am still reminded to take the time to write my Five Faves.  Thank you, Susanne!

Here are my Fave Fives from this fourth week of July.

1.  As I am sitting in the chair in my family room writing this, I am watching the birds in my garden.  My favorite is the hummingbird.  Finally, all the bright colored flowers and the two red feeders have attracted two hummers here.  One of the bird feeders is about two feet from the window.  So I can sit here and watch it more closely.  Any photos?  Nope.  My window has a screen on it and it is impossible to take a clear photo.  So I just sit and smile when the hummingbird stops by to sip its nectar.  I am thankful for a back garden large enough to host all the birds.

2.  Another sweet thing about my garden.  I never know what is going to pop up where I didn't plant it.  Usually it's weeds.  But this week as I was wandering around checking to see how soon the next round of raspberries would be ripe, I discovered this:

A sunflower peeking through all the raspberry leaves~

4.  I always love my knit times.  Saturday was our monthly group meeting at the local coffee shop.  And one morning, I met my Nurse daughter for coffee and knitting just to hang out and chat.  

3.  This week T and S met us for our coffee date at a new place.  This coffee shop is fairly new in its town, but had been recommended by several people even though it is located in the county south of us.  It's in a hundred year old house and all the floors and woodwork are original.  And the coffee got a double thumbs up from The Professor.

5.  I am thankful that during the horrible wind and thunderstorm earlier this week that our family remained safe.  At my son's home, there was a several hour power outage, but electricity was back on by 9pm.  You may have seen on the news that the roof of a local church  (about 4.5 miles from us) was blown off and many trees and branches blew down.  That's how strong the storm was.  I am thankful that no one was killed and that my family is safe.  After that storm, our weather has moderated and we have been able to do some weeding in the garden and to take walks two evenings. 

How was your week?  Can you find five blessings?  

More and More Barns

 Last week when we were driving to North Ohio, we passed through miles and miles of rural country.  That meant barns!  My camera was charged and ready to click.

Twelve picturesque barns from north central Ohio.

all in a blur...

side and front views

Mid July Faves

Hello, friends!  How has your week been?  I've had another busy week, but overall, it has been a wonderful one.  Here are some of blessings that I have noticed from this week.  I'm sharing as my Friday Fave Fives and posting them with others who share on Susanne's blog. (follow the link)

1. Friday and Saturday we spent with our friends from California.  We took a walk along the river and they marveled at all the green foliage everywhere (not much like Southern California in the summer)

Then we visited a favorite coffee shop/cafe.  On Saturday we showed them around Columbus and visited a book shop and then watched a play in one of the city parks.  They loved it!  Even the crazy rainstorm that flooded one of the streets where we were driving.  It was hard to say goodbye-- we will miss all the conversations and all the hugs from C and A.

2.  On Sunday afternoon, I attended a workshop to learn how to make hats for women who have breast cancer and are undergoing chemo.  Nightbirde Foundation hosted it as it is local to our area.  You can find out more about the foundation by clicking the link.  I am enjoying making the hats and learning to use a knitting loom and knowing that my creations will bless someone who needs encouragement (and a warm hat).

3.  Monday was shopping day.  I have to admit that neither The Professor nor I are big shoppers.  So we plan a trip into the big city and try to do all the shopping in one day.  Trader Joe's for food.  The shopping mall for shoes and clothes.  And a lunch stop.  It took us most of the day, but we got the shopping done.

4.  Tuesday was our anniversary.  We spent the day driving up to northern Ohio to visit Big Boy Steam Engine.  BUT.  That's not how the day progressed.  The traffic was so bad as we approached within about three miles,  that it took us three hours to move less than a mile.  Then, the area was closed down, so we weren't allowed to get in to see the train.  Oh well.  Because Nurse Daughter and her son were caravanning with us, we decided to just drive to a nearby town and eat dinner.  The restaurant was lovely and the food was excellent!  And one of the onion rings we ordered was shaped like a heart!

The day didn't turn out as we expected, but it was still an interesting way to celebrate our anniversary.  As our daughter commented, we did spend part of our honeymoon driving in our car up and down the Pacific Coast Highway in California.

5.  After our coffee date with our friends, The Professor and I drove over to visit an elderly man from our church.  We spent a couple of hours with him chatting quietly.  As we drove in and out on the driveway, we passed what he calls 'the gnome house'.  Yes, he built it.  It was a privilege to just sit and talk with him.

And now it is Friday afternoon.  Our skies are clouded over with smoke from the fires to the west of us.  I hope all is well with everyone and you are all safe from the fires burning across North America.