Birthdays and Road Trips

My first FridayFaveFives for July. Can you believe we are halfway through the year 2022?

1. The Profeesor had a birthday on Sunday.  The family enjoyed ice cream cake together. Then in the evening, since our church small group was meeting, Older Daughter brought cake and candles.  Oops! No house or cabinets were burned down, but the cake had some damage.  

2.  We picked our first raspberries from the bushes we planted this spring! I had eaten all but three berries before I remembered to snap a photo. YUM!

3.  "Extra grandsons" will be moving this weekend into their own place. But one day, the older one offered to vacuum the whole house knowing that the issues I have been having  with my hands have made it difficult for me to do basic chores. What a blessing! The floors are clean!

4.  A younger mom at church and in our small group wanted to meet with me for coffee and we finally connected this week. Coffee, walk along a nearby trail pushing the cutest little boy in town in his stroller, getting to know each other better.  So. Good.  We are planning regular weekly meet ups.

5.  We are on a road trip. Again.  This time we are headed south to attend a reunion with many people we worked alongside in Indonesia.  This will be the first time we have seen many of them in more than 30 years. So excited! Stay tuned for updates.  Eleanor has been helping with navigation.

Happy July Fourth Independence Day to all my fellow Americans!

June's Fourth Week

Hello, Friday.  First week of summer 2022.  We have been enjoying the long slow sunsets of summer solstice time.  Here are my Friday Fave Fives where I slow down and ponder the blessings of the week.  Click on THIS LINK to join Susanne and the rest of us in being thankful.

1.  Oh my, it has been hot here.  I am so thankful for air conditioning!

2.  Our extra grandsons are still here.  But they have found an apartment that will accommodate both of them AND their parents who are arriving next month.  And jobs, they are getting jobs.

3.  We truly enjoy having the 'boys' here.  I tell them I am taking advantage of their strong muscles to do the hard stuff around here.  Last night, they cut up all the branches The Professor lobbed off the over growing tree.  It would have taken us hours to do that.  The 'boys' finished in less than a half hour.

4.  We celebrated Father's Day with family dinner in a small local restaurant that serves both Greek and Indian food.  Yum-yum!  Win-win!

5.  Father's Day.  Yes, what would Fave Fives be without my mentioning how thankful I am for The Professor?  He does it all.  Makes salads.  Does the dishes.  Manages the finances.  Pays the bills.  Makes the bed.  Goes grocery shopping.  Sacrifices his time for his family.  Chauffeurs the grandkids everywhere.  Leads Bible studies.  And he does all this being 'retired'.

This is still my favorite photo of him even though it is decades old.  The Professor sitting on the steps of our bush house in the village of Mouyeba, Papua, Indonesia.

What are you thankful for this week?

June's Third Friday

 This was another wild week.  But at least we are back home in our own beds again.  I am so thankful for all the fun and experiences we had on our six day trip.  This morning I am pausing long enough to share for Friday Fave Fives.

1.  The family reunion wasn't that large, just twenty-one people.  But we thoroughly enjoyed long conversations with several of The Professor's family members.

2.  Our visit with The Professor's cousins was great.  We just sat around in K's lovely farmhouse and gazed out on her huge cornfields and chatted.  It was a slow start home on Monday morning because we were having so much fun.

3. We took our time to drive home in two days instead of one really long drive.  Since we were traveling through a lot of rural areas, I had my camera out and ready for snapping photos of old barns.

4.  The 'boys' staying in our house while we were gone did a great job.  They didn't burn the house down.  They cooked their meals. They watered the garden.

5.  The morning after we returned The Professor's older brother and his wife stopped by for a day long visit on their trip home from Tennessee where they were for her family's reunion.  We were so busy talking that I forgot to take any photos and only snapped this one of the two brothers at a restaurant that evening.

So that was Willow's Week in five quick statements.  I hope you had a rewarding and blessed week, too.

June's Second Friday

 I am a bit late posting my Friday Fave Fives this week because I have been having too much fun.The Professor and I are on a road trip!  Before we left, we had a few days of fun and blessings.

1.  On Friday night we went with both daughters and some grandchildren to watch Hamlet at Shakespeare in the Park.  This is a tradition and we always enjoy watching whatever Shakespeare play the company chooses to produce. 

2.  Late on Tuesday night, our doorbell rang. We opened our door to welcome back our 'extra grandson' and his older brother who have arrived in our town. Yes, they and their parents are moving here!  We are so excited and happy to have this dear family near us.  And while we are gone, the boys are caring for our home. 

3.  We love traveling. Again this June we headed west to Iowa to attend The Professor's family reunion which will be this Sunday.  So the travel is fun adventure for us. 

4.  Another special reason to visit Iowa is to visit a very dear friend from college.  We spent two wonderful days and evenings with her. Of course, we never ran out of things to talk about.  The Professor has known her all her life too as their fathers were in college/seminary together.

5.  The Professor loves trains , so what better thing to do than take a train ride on a very old train that runs on tracks going through his mother's childhood county? It really was fun to sit in an old rail car and travel through the area where his mother lived as a child.

Since we are traveling, I may be a bit haphazard in responding to comments around blogland. I will do my best when I have connection to wifi.

Have a blessed weekend!

June's First Friday

 Welcome!  Good Friday morning.  It's June!  Where did those five months of 2022 disappear to so quickly?  And this week, too.  Here I am to share my Friday Fave Fives which focus on how I have been blessed this week.  Click THIS LINK to join in sharing your own Fave Fives.

1.  Memorial Day was this week. It is not always easy 1to ponder the meaning of this day which as it was originally called was a Day of Remembrance of those who have died during war and during their military service time.  But it is important to do so. 

2.  Tall Boy (formerly New Boy) is now a high schooler!  He finished strong in his homeschool studies.  His last writing assignment was to write a list and a paragraph about things he learned this year.

3. On the last two days,  he asked to play Scrabble with us after school time before we took him home. I am proud to say he beat me.

4. Saturday morning, we drove to a town north of us where the Trail Life troop was participating in the ice cream festival parade. Little Warrior (younger grandson) sat on their float around a "campfire" and threw candy to the people lining the streets.  Tall Boy marched in front of the float and proudly carried the American flag. The Professor walked alongside as he is one of the adult leaders. I cheered and cheered! So proud of them.

5.  I totally messed up my days on Wednesday thinking we were having coffee with our friends. Oops. Wrong day.  But because they were with us, Tall Boy and Little Warrior got extra snacks, and we got coffee anyway.  Some days are like this.

I hope you are excitedly looking forward to June but at the same time looking back to acknowledge the blessings of May.

Fourth Faves in May

It's Friday again, so soon.  I was gone for a couple of days and am catching up here at Willow's Cottage.  Here are my Friday Fave Fives for this Fourth Friday in May. (follow the link to join!)  

1.  Thank you for all the love for my granddaughter's track meet high jump.  Although she didn't make it to regionals, we are so proud of her efforts and tenacity.

2.  We took a quick two day trip north to Cleveland.  Since we had never been there, we enjoyed visiting a park on Lake Erie.  It was a fun spot to walk and see the outline of downtown Cleveland.

The metal artwork on the fence was fun and whimsical.

3.  The reason we were in Cleveland was to pick up my brother and his co-worker and drive them to where they were picking up two buses for the bus company they work for.  I haven't seen my brother in person for three years!  Oh, it was so so so good to spend even a few hours with him!

He drives big buses.

4.  The drive to and from Cleveland sent us through so much farmland.  You know what that means.  Old barns!

5.  Talking about doctor appointments isn't always the best topic, but I am thankful for two appointments, one with the dentist and one with the dermatologist, that went well.

This is Memorial Day weekend in the United States.  Let us stop, focus, and be thankful for those who have given all for our country.  Fly our flags proudly.

Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

 Berwick is a small town in northeastern England. In fact, it is the farthest north of any town in England, closest to the Scottish border.  After we left Holy Island, we were driven to Berwick by a very lovely lady named Sue who lives there (lucky woman!).  She dropped us off at the train station so we could catch our train south.

Since we had a few hours to wait, we walked over to the local pub to grab something to eat.  Older daughter and I explored the area a bit.  I have to say that Berwick is absolutely charming.  I think you will agree.

The River Tweed

There are always walls and pathways around them.

Eleanor agrees with me. Berwick upon Tweed is a lovely and friendly place.

I definitely want to return to Berwick someday and explore it more!